Julius Thomas

TE Julius Thomas, the Jaguars' most high-profile offseason free-agent acquisition, missed the first four regular-season games and has just 13 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown in four games. As Thomas sees it, the issue is timing. “I’m very confident we’ll start connecting,” Thomas said. “The looks are there. The opportunities are there. As we (he and quarterback Blake Bortles) get a better feel for each other and our timing, it’s going to come along.” Thomas said he and Bortles had good timing before he sustained a hand injury in the preseason opener that kept him out until Week 5. “We have to figure that out again and try to do it when there’s not a lot of time to get those extra reps because we’re so far into the season,” he said. “It’s something we’re working on.”

Thomas, asked about his conditioning, said, “You guys may say it’s conditioning, but for the people who are playing, it’s just timing. You can run well and you can have great wind, but it’s, ‘How am I going to get in and out of this route? What body lean? What position?’ That’s the stuff you can’t get until you’re back out there and going against defenses. My conditioning is really good. My body feels really good. Now, I’m trying to get that rhythm back.”

Thomas has the 6th-most targets per game since Week 6, so the usage is there. Eventually, he and Blake Bortles should start to connect.